I won't get into the merits of DB for a family BUT everything I'm told is that the school situation is not great. DB International School you have to apply at birth to stand a chance. Discovery College is very competitive. And then there are a few newish ones like Discovery Mind that get mixed reviews. A LOT of DB kids are taking the ferry to HK Island then hopping on a school bus. Which in my mind completely defeats the purpose of living in the idyllic resort if your kid has a 45 min commute each way via Central.
I think anyone considering buying a flat in DB should put in school applications to DBIS (and to DC on schedule for when ESF applications open) and see the results first.
......but for the ones (and I know some) that manage to get their kids at DBIS ...it's great so it's all relative. I just don't like people who dismiss other people queries just because they have a big biased over something. Jimbo is a known poster on here whom I respect but he doesn't like DB with a passion (a bit like TB with GC) so when they post on it...has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Anyway, I wouldn't live in DB for a variety of reason but I know plenty of people who like it. I also wouldn't like in Lai Chi Kok and I bet many people wouldn't live where I live...
I was going through my drawers the other day and dusted off an old receipt from 2008 for my son to join the DBIS waiting list. Those thieving motherfuckers stole my money and never called me back! I remember being position 117 on their fake waiting list and then chased them a year later I was 130 because of the priority they gave to teachers kids, siblings, etc. It's a pretty good business creating these fake waiting lists and taking money from people that they will never be able to provide a service too.
If you want to buy in DB, then buy. Your job location will most likely change anyway every now and then.
Knowing that DB has a (supposedly) shortage of school places, you'd think they'd have the town planning foresight to build another school (or two) before they develop more 'luxury™' housing, further exasperating the problem for parents.
Wouldn't want to make people's lives easy.
The other mind boggling piece of trivia is that the ESF school in DB, Discovery College, is one of only a few ESF schools in HK that DONT have a catchment area. ie They accept kids from all over HK and bus them INTO DB every day. Most of the other ESF schools in HK only accept kids that live in the local school area. Do ESF/government bigwigs not know where DB is on a map and realise the complete lack of common sense here?